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The biggest argument for a college football playoff is seeing what a playoff does for college basketball. Could you imagine a December Dash to match March Madness?

The biggest argument against it, of late, has been it would make the regular season meaningless. Right now a loss in September is painful in college football. A loss in November eliminates your team from a title game shot.

Columbus Dispatch sports columnist Bob Hunter captures my feelings on the Jim Tressel situation very well today. So I will provide a link. The only thing I would like to add is: I still think the NCAA is going to hand down a harsher penalty. They have hammered players and coaches in the past for covering things up or not telling the truth. This really is no different.Here is a link to Hunter's blog entry.

Yahoo! Sports, which is gaining a great reputation for its investigating of sports, particulary college sports, published a report Monday that Ohio State coach Jim Tressel knew of the gear scheme that his players were involved in eight months before the school told the NCAA about the problem. Withholding information from the NCAA is not a good practice, they have a tendency to get their pound of flesh.By Charles Robinson and Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! SportsOhio State coach Jim Tressel was informed that several Buckeyes players were selling memorabilia more than eight months before the school claims it was made aware of the scheme, a two-month Yahoo! Sports investigation has found.Tressel received information that players were selling items to Edward Rife – the owner of Fine Line Ink Tattoos in Columbus – as early as April 2010, according to a source. However, neither Ohio State nor the NCAA investigated the transactions or the players’ relationship with Rife until December 2010, when the school claims it was informed of the situation by the local United States Attorney’s office.Ohio State director of compliance Doug Archie declined immediate comment when reached Monday by Yahoo! Sports. Tressel and athletic director Gene Smith were unavailable for comment. The NCAA declined comment. At a Dec. 23 press conference, Jim Tressell said he had only recently found out about players selling memorabilia.A federal probe into Rife revealed he was in possession of multiple pieces of Buckeyes football memorabilia that previously belonged to five players: quarterback Terrelle Pryor, running back Dan Herron, wideout DeVier Posey, defensive end Solomon Thomas and offensive lineman Mike Adams. Federal officers contacted the school Dec. 7 to determine if the goods were stolen or instead sold by the players for cash, as Rife claimed.According to a source, a concerned party reached out to Tressel last April, alerting the coach that memorabilia transactions had taken place between Rife and a handful of Buckeyes players, including Pryor. The selling of items violates NCAA eligibility rules. The source said Tressel was troubled by the information, and the coach indicated that he would investigate the matter and take appropriate action.Here is a link to the rest of the story.

Ohio.com switched providers of statistics online to Stats Inc. earlier this month.I think it is one of the best companies on the web, and it should improve our quality in a hurry.On each team page -- the Indians, Cavs, Browns, Zips, Flashes and Buckeyes -- you will see the latest game scoring update and then links to team stats and schedule.Check it out.

Mel Kiper of ESPN•The big shift this week is at the top, where Patrick Peterson now claims the No. 1 spot. After a fantastic week at the NFL combine, he has become the rare corner who could be considered a potential No. 1 pick. Given that he is a full 219 pounds, can be a weapon as a returner, and could conceivably become a star at safety if a coach ever pushed him there, he epitomizes a guy who can produce early.